Council Tax Reduction and Housing Benefit in Wiltshire: What You Can Claim Together

Housing Benefit and CTR: Two Separate Claims

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction in Wiltshire are separate means-tested benefits administered by the same team at Wiltshire Council. You can receive both at the same time — one covers your rent, the other reduces your council tax bill. Having one does not affect eligibility for the other, though the income assessment follows similar principles.

There is an important practical catch: if you apply for both, the council assesses them simultaneously when you submit a joint Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction claim through the Wiltshire Council portal or by phone (0300 456 0110). The evidence requirements overlap — bank statements, proof of income, identity documents — so a single submission covers both. If you are already receiving Housing Benefit but have not claimed CTR, or vice versa, contact the Benefits Team to add the missing claim.

The Universal Credit Transition

Housing Benefit is being phased out for most working-age claimants as they move to Universal Credit. For most renters, the UC housing-costs element replaces Housing Benefit for the same rent. People in specified supported accommodation or local-authority temporary accommodation can still claim Housing Benefit while receiving UC.

Council Tax Reduction is the exception to this transition. CTR remains a local scheme administered by Wiltshire Council regardless of whether you are on legacy benefits or Universal Credit. Moving to UC does not automatically give you council tax support. You still need a separate CTR claim with the council, and many people miss this step.

Under Wiltshire's 2026/27 rules, UC recipients benefit from the new "significant changes only" reassessment rule. Minor monthly fluctuations in your UC payment no longer trigger CTR recalculations — your award only changes when something substantial happens, like starting a job, moving home, or a household member moving in or out.

Second Adult Rebate

The second adult rebate (sometimes called "alternative maximum council tax reduction") is a separate form of help available to pension-age claimants only. It is not available to working-age applicants in Wiltshire.

The rebate applies when you (the liable person) would not normally qualify for CTR because your own income or savings are too high, but another adult living in your home is on a low income. The reduction is based on the second adult's income, not yours. Depending on the second adult's circumstances, the rebate ranges from 7.5% to 25% of your council tax bill.

Key conditions:

• You must be of pension age. Working-age residents cannot claim the second adult rebate under Wiltshire's scheme.
• The second adult must not be your partner. It applies to other adults living in your home — an adult child, a friend, a relative — who are on a low income or receiving certain benefits.
• You cannot receive both standard CTR and the second adult rebate. The council calculates both and awards whichever gives you the higher reduction.

If you are of pension age and have a low-income adult living with you, it is worth asking the council to check both calculations when you apply. Pension-age claims follow national prescribed rules, so the Wiltshire Council team runs both assessments as standard.

Other Help You Can Claim Alongside CTR

Council Tax Reduction stacks with several statutory discounts and local reliefs. These are applied to your gross bill before the CTR calculation, so they reduce the base amount that CTR is calculated on:

• 25% single person discount — if you are the only adult in the property
• Disabled band reduction — if the property has been adapted for a disabled resident, reducing your bill to the next lower band
• Severely mentally impaired exemption — full exemption if all residents qualify, or a discount if combined with one qualifying resident

On top of CTR, Wiltshire also operates the Crisis and Resilience Fund for households in acute financial hardship, and discretionary Section 13A(1)(c) relief for exceptional cases where standard CTR does not fully cover the bill.

Our Wiltshire Council Tax Reduction guide walks through the full eligibility criteria, evidence requirements, and how these different forms of help interact — so you can check everything you are entitled to in one place.

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